Holy Land Trip (Sinai & Israel)

Much has happened since my last update.
We’ve been in the Sinai wilderness without internet access and now we’ve arrived in Israel.
We left Cairo, Egypt, on Friday, March 13, and headed for the Sinai peninsula.
The group spent the night at the base of Mt Sinai, the mountain Moses ascended to receive the Ten Commandments from God.
Our hotel was less than spectacular (small bedrooms, dirty bathrooms and cats roaming the dinning area), but we were not there long.

Saturday, March 14
Several of the team awoke early on Saturday morning (1 am to be specific) to begin a hike up to the top of Mt Sinai.
The hike up to the top (over 8,000 ft above sea level) took nearly 6 hours round trip.
The hike was much tougher than advertised, however, and several of our people had to stop short of the top.
Those who did reach the top were treated to a great sunrise.
I have to say that it was one of the most physically demanded things I’ve ever done, but well worth it.
At the mountain top, there were people from every tribe, tongue and nation (sound familiar).
A group of Nigerian Christians on their own pilgrimage sang and danced.
In the afternoon, we toured St Catherine’s Monastery located at the base of Mt Sinai.
St Catherine’s is one of the most important monasteries in the world containing oldest and richest libraries in the world.
Located there we saw the tradition site of where Moses drew water from Jethro’s well as well as where God spoke to Moses through the burning bush.
After leaving Sinai, it was onto Israel!
The day’s only difficulty was getting through customs and security on the Egyptian/Israeli border.
A larger-than-normal amount of traffic caused a wait of several hours.
Our patience was tested while waiting in line. A group of fellow pilgrims from the Ukraine repeatedly kept trying to cut in line in front of many of our team members.
Cooler heads prevailed and the Cold War was not reignited.
After making it across the border and meeting our new tour guides, we drove to Jerusalem, arriving around midnight.

Sunday, March 15, was our first day in Jerusalem.
We’ve got a really nice hotel. After a good night’s sleep and breakfast, we were off on our tours.
Here’s the highlights from the Judean Wilderness:

Masada - King Herod’s palace/fortress; also the site where 960 Jewish Zealots attempted to hold off the Romans in 73 AD.
Ein Gedi - site where David cut off a corner of King Saul’s robe while hiding in a cave there (1Samuel 24).
Qumran - location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947; these manuscripts dating back to the 1st century were the greatest archeological find in the 20th century.
Dead Sea - lots of salt; 27% of the water is mineral (I don’t know what else to say).

We have pretty consistent internet access here in Jerusalem.
I will try my best to post an update every day now.

In Him,
Greg Herriford